Overview: Children in Canada in the 1990s - November 1996

Notwithstanding the importance of genetic make-up, the well-being of children depends heavily upon the environments in which they live. Healthy children emerge most often from healthy families, and healthy families are in turn promoted by healthy communities. Yet while there is broad agreement that what children experience in their environment is important, there is much we don't know about the specifics or pathways of how environment affects child development: how family income and parenting styles, for instance, affect a child's school readiness and academic achievement; or how the type of child care or the security of the neighbourhood affects peer relationships or physical development.

The child development process can be likened to a "black box." We see children and their environments go into the box, and we see them come out transformed. We know that interactions take place within, but we can't see inside to directly observe how they take place. The difficulty of seeing inside the box is primarily a reflection of the enormous variability and complexity of the child development process. With so many influences on child development and so many different children, it is hard to isolate the impact of any one factor or influence.

If child development were a physical science (which it certainly is not), it would be possible to perform laboratory experiments under strictly controlled conditions ? we could see directly into the "black box". We can study what makes healthy plants by selecting different seeds, planting them in different soils, then altering the blend of nutrients, the amount of water and sunshine, the purity of the air and so on. We can then measure growth each day. If children were plants we could do the same. We would alter the style of parenting, the type of child care, the family's income, the safety of their neighbourhoods, the number of their friends and so on. Then we would measure their development weekly and be in a pretty good position to know how different factors affect child development. Since we have no such laboratories, the best substitute is to have comprehensive ("holistic") studies that track a child's development from conception through adulthood. These are known as longitudinal surveys and studies.

To date in Canada we have not had such a holistic survey. We have a few regional and local studies that attempt to track the influence of one or a few factors on certain child outcomes. But until now we have not had a national study that looked at virtually the totality of a child's environment to determine how it influences a wide variety of outcomes broad enough to encompass what is normally considered "child development."

The National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth (NLSCY) now dramatically changes this situation for the better. This ambitious study, launched by the federal government, takes us a giant step further in our ability to understand child development. The NLSCY provides a unique opportunity to study the progress of children from infancy to adulthood. The results of this survey, once it has been operational for several years, hold great promise for sorting out the processes at work in the "black box" of child development.

The importance of this work goes beyond a narrow academic application. The life chances of children are increasingly compromised by, for example, growing up in ever-changing family structures and by their families being exposed to greater levels of economic insecurity. As a result, a better understanding of child development is critical to devising strategies that target the children and families most in need and will help create a healthier environment for all children.

The NLSCY follows a representative sample of children from across Canada. Not only is basic information being collected that allows an exceptionally detailed portrait of who these children are and where they live; in many cases it also provides first-time information on what are widely agreed to be the significant environmental factors shaping child development. As well, the survey presents data on outcomes ? that is, on factors that allow us to track the progress of children in Canada ? such as their physical, behavioural, social, learning and emotional well-being.^*I Over time, this range of information will allow us to better understand what goes on inside the "black box" by linking the environmental inputs to the child progress outcomes.

This research paper provides an overview of the first release of NLSCY data. However, it contains data representing only one point in time ? 1994?1995¹ ? and therefore it is only a "snapshot." The data being released in this volume are baseline data, and they give a rich picture of the stage of child development and the environment in 1994?1995. This information, while highly useful, falls short of the longitudinal "video" we need to determine how certain environmental factors influence child outcomes over time. We can use the snapshot data to examine which current environmental factors are associated with certain child and family characteristics and behaviours. But until we have the results of future cycles of the survey, we will not know how these current environmental factors will shape children as they grow up.

Consequently, the full potential of the NLSCY will only be realized as future cycles of the survey are completed. At that point, we will have a better understanding of the biological, cognitive and socioeconomic processes involved in healthy child development. We will gain greater insight into the childhood risk factors that increase the likelihood of poor developmental outcomes for children and youth, as well as the protective or preventive factors ? individual, family and/or community ? that result in positive outcomes such as school completion.

In total, information was collected on 22,831 children from birth to 11 years of age. The sample excluded children who had been living in institutions for over six months (e.g., hospital, residential child-welfare facility) and Aboriginal children living on-reserve. Some Aboriginal children living off-reserve in the provinces were captured in the sample. Although information was collected in the Yukon and Northwest Territories, it is not included in this first data release.

In each of the survey households, Statistics Canada interviewed the "person most knowledgeable" (PMK) about the child to solicit information about children aged 0 to 11 years and their families. The oldest children in the survey, 10- and 11-year-olds, were also asked to complete a questionnaire about their experiences and opinions. In addition, teachers and principals were part of the survey. The PMK, with rare exceptions ? only 0.5% of cases ? was a parent (including biological, adoptive, step- and foster mothers and fathers).²

The complete findings of the first cycle of data collection are being made available in two waves. This collection of research papers is based on the findings of the first wave. The information being released includes data on topics such as child temperament, behaviour and school readiness, as well as basic sociodemographic data on children and their families and a number of indicators that measure how well families are functioning. Second-wave findings will be released at a later date.³

In subsequent cycles, the NLSCY will begin to provide information on how children are progressing through childhood and their teen years. The same panel of children will be interviewed every two years until they reach adulthood. New infants will be added to the survey sample in the second and subsequent cycles to allow for ongoing cross-sectional analysis to supplement the primary longitudinal research.

This overview is organized into three sections. The first part presents a profile of children in Canada in 1994?1995: who they were, where they lived and how they were faring. The next part turns to the status of families in Canada and the dynamics of family life. Both sections present cross-sectional data, that is, snapshot observations.

In the conclusion, we begin to explore the potential of the NLSCY by linking selected environmental variables such as household income to child outcomes such as motor and social development. While these cross-tabulations do not establish a causal relationship between one factor and another, they are suggestive of what might be the most productive lines of research to pursue in the effort to better understand the complexities of child development.

• ¹The data for the first cycle of the NLSCY were collected between 1994 and spring 1995.
• ²For the purposes of this research paper, we are substituting the term "parent" for "PMK" in order to use a familiar term more easily understood. Moreover, as parents were in fact the person most knowledgeable (the respondent) for 99.5% of all the children surveyed, negligible distortion is done to the survey statistics. Of the parents, mothers made up the majority of respondents, completing the PMK questionnaire for 89.9% of the children in the survey; fathers completed the survey for 9.5% of children. The PMK was neither the mother or father in only 0.5% of the cases.
• ³The second wave of the first NLSCY release will cover topics such as child health, literacy, activities, and the family and custody history of the children surveyed. In addition, results of the teacher's and principal's questionnaire will be published, along with other information about the children's neighbourhoods. Complete results from the questionnaire completed by 10- and 11-year-olds will be available at this time.